Fender Rhodes

Olsen Olsen · Post by **Olsen Olsen** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 3:51 pm

Sorry to post this in the Moog forum, but I'm looking for a website I found awhile back that makes clones of Fender Rhodes pianos. Has anyone else seen this, or know what I'm talking about? I appreciate the help, in advance. Thanks!

atkbg · Post by **atkbg** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 4:35 pm

http://www.fenderrhodes.com

Olsen Olsen · Post by **Olsen Olsen** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 6:57 pm

That's just the history of the piano. Not quite what I'm looking for. Thanks, anyway.

OysterRock · Post by **OysterRock** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 8:59 pm

To my knowledge nobody has made Rhodes clones, but you might try asking here:

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/rh ... =126754864

There have been a few people who have TALKED about reproducing them, but no results yet!

Olsen Olsen · Post by **Olsen Olsen** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 10:01 pm

Thanks for the link. It's just so expensive to buy a restored, original Rhodes. I love their feel and was hoping to snag one and rest an L.P. on top.

EricK · Post by **EricK** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 10:58 pm

Man i have seen them for very cheap on ebay. like around 700 dollars. My father saw an 88 key suitcase in a pawn shop (in arkansas) once but he didn't have the cash to jump on it. He woudl have jsut used that for parts heh.
EricK

OysterRock · Post by **OysterRock** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 12:24 am

Olsen Olsen wrote:Thanks for the link. It's just so expensive to buy a restored, original Rhodes. I love their feel and was hoping to snag one and rest an L.P. on top.

If someone were to produce a new Rhodes, you can bet it would cost waaaaaay more than a fully restored old one. You can get a COMPLETELY restored Stage for less than $1000, I mean the WORKS. There are much better deals out there than that, too. I got an already excellent condition 1975 Stage 73 with wooden hammers (the best kind, IMHO

) for $300 about 3 years ago on eBay. I bought a 1978 Stage 73 a few years before that for $250. Just have patience, wait for the right one, and be willing to put a little bit of work into it to get it in tip-top shape.

..I would love to see a NEW Rhodes, though.

Olsen Olsen · Post by **Olsen Olsen** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 9:38 am

I appreciate the advice. I'll be on the lookout for sure.

atkbg · Post by **atkbg** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 9:24 am

oops. Sorry for the wrong link. There is a guy who was putting together the mini-rhodes. He only made one and stopped becuase of the price and market. Look on craigslist.
Also, they're really easy to COMPLETELY disassemble and rebuild. Thats why I gave the link. They have all the parts.

I've actually been looking to add midi9 to my rhodes. I've got to disassemble, clean, re-silicon and rehammer it soon anyway.

good luck

Indeed · Post by **Indeed** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 5:34 am

I bought mine for $220 off craigslist in SanFrancisco, where I'm from...
Had no legs, no sustain pedal, no lid (for transport). But was able to find those parts pretty easily. Since then, I've learned how to tune and calibrate the tines and pickups to my various tastes. Dude, the Rhodes is so easy to get parts for and modify to your liking; an easy & fun fixer-upper, indeed.

You should be able to score one in pretty good shape with legs and a sustain pedal for around $500. I think that's incredibly cheap for such an instrument. Sorry fellow Moogies, but its my favorite instrument in my rig. For tuning, I use the Boss TU-2 or whatever and a screwdriver. You can calibrate the pickup positions and tune in one session...my first time took about 4 hours to do all 73 keys....

Also, I would get the Mk1, it feels really different from the Mk2's. More uh..........responsive, gritty, expressive. The 2 is great too though, don't get me wrong. Word up on the "wooden vs plastic hammers."
anyways...

this_poison · Post by **this_poison** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 9:49 am

We have a thing in the UK called a "car boot sale" which is an open-air market in a field where people sell off all kinds of things (mostly rubbish) - a bit like a US garage sale but with loads of sellers?

I still frequent them during the summer, as you can often find gems amongst it all.

Two years ago I got a Rhodes from a house clearance seller - it was reasonable on the outside, with very minor tolex damage and some dirt, but when I got the lid off it turned out to be a near mint MK2 with shining keys and a full complement of legs, pedal and pedal rod. When I saw it I was gutted I only had £100 in my wallet (realising it would never be enough), but when I asked the guy how much he said..............

"I wanted £40, but no-one can lift it - you can have it for £20 if you take it away!.

How I avoided hitting innocent people as I drove my car across that field to pick it up I'll never know.

Don't expect I'll ever get a deal like that again, but they do come up.

But, never on eBay - too many rods in that pool !

writeroxie · Post by **writeroxie** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 11:27 am

a friend of mine just picked up a FREE Rhodes from a guy looking to get it out of his house. Needs work, but hey! still a great find

step 1: remove the mouse next from inside.